


O Night Devine

by NEStar



Series: Home for the Holidays [5]
Category: Sanditon (TV 2019)
Genre: hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:33:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21801469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NEStar/pseuds/NEStar
Summary: An outing with Mary leads to an unexpected opportunity.
Series: Home for the Holidays [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1570330
Comments: 7
Kudos: 41





	O Night Devine

“Sidney!” Mary called to him as he came into the kitchen. “My favorite brother-in-law! Say you’ll come out with me tonight.”

“I’ll come out with you tonight,” he answered easily.

“You don’t even know what it is,” Arthur chimed in.

Sidney shrugged, “It’s something Mary wants to do and I like Mary.”

“And that’s why he’s my favorite,” Mary said, putting a plate of eggs and toast down in front of Arthur and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

* * *

They pulled into Hartwick around 7:00 and Mary quickly found a parking spot, “That’s why we come early.” They wandered a bit, just looking at the decorations, until it was closer to the start of the concert.

As they made their way into the hall the crowd shifted and Sidney ended up tripping over someone. When he turned to apologize, he was pleasantly surprised to find Mrs. Heywood.

“Sidney!” 

“I’m so sorry.”

“No trouble at all,” Mrs, Heywood replied. 

“Sidney?” Mary questioned.

“Mary, meet Mrs. Heywood.” he said.

“Oh, how lovey. Sidney told us how kind your family was to him.”

Mrs. Heywood beamed, “We couldn’t just let him out in that blizzard. He did bring our Charlotte to us, after all.”

The crowd shifted forward and Sidney started looking for a seat.

“Oh, is she here?” Mary asked.

“Yes, she came first to grab a spot. It’s been so long since she’s had a chance to hear Allison sing.”

Sidney saw a hand waving up ahead and pointed it out to Mrs. Heywood. 

“Oh, thank you.” she said, “Why don’t you come sit with us? I’m sure there’s enough room.”

Mary brightened in a way that Sidney feel slightly nervous.

“Charlotte, look who I found!”

And there was that bright smile. 

“Parker!”

“Cookie Girl.”

Behind him he could hear Mary giggling.

Introductions were made and everyone sat down as the lights dimmed. Most of the Heywood clan had come out tonight to hear their sister, Allison. So it was in this jumble that Sidney found himself sitting at the end of the row with Charlotte pressed into his side. He looked over and saw Mary at the other end of the group sitting next to Mrs. Heywood, the two of them chatting happily.

The program was pleasant enough, a selection of choral Christmas hymns. Then a familiar tune started and Charlotte gave a little gasp and grabbed his hand.

On the stage a single singer - Allison Heywood - stepped forward, “O holy night, the stars are brightly shining.”

The song continued and built, the rest of the corus coming in to provide backing, but overall was that one clear voice.

“O night divine, O night, O night divine.”

The song ended and Charlotte seemed to realize that she had been gripping his hand.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

“She was really good, “ he replied.

The program continued and Sidney found himself missing the warmth of her hand.


End file.
